Sens may face lawsuit over alleged harassment
Team’s assistant general manager Lee scheduled to return to court this month
The family of the 19-year-old hotel employee who complained to police about unwanted sexual advances by Ottawa Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee has retained a top civil lawyer to review the case with the hopes of suing the longtime executive and the NHL team.
The young man’s family has retained Buffalo lawyer Charles Desmond to review the case and give advice.
The lawyer told this newspaper that the potential lawsuit would also be targeting the Senators because Lee, 56, was in Buffalo for the NHL scouting combine when he was arrested for harassment in the second degree, a violation.
Lee was arrested a day after what will stand as his last ride to the Westin Hotel in Buffalo. (A judge has banned him from the hotel and has told Lee to stay clear of the teen.)
It was around 10:30 p.m. on May 30 when Lee got a hotel shuttle van after a night out at 716, a sports bar.
Lee, since suspended by the Senators, asked to sit in the front passenger seat and wouldn’t keep his hands off the young driver, according to the police report.
In a sworn statement filed in Buffalo city court, the teen driver said he had already told Lee to stop touching his shoulder when he started rubbing it, and offered him body massages.
He said Lee then “tried to get (the teen driver) to look at his groin area because he had an erection,” according to the complainant’s sworn statement.
Lee and the NHL club have told this newspaper they won’t be commenting on the case until it plays out in Buffalo city court.
Lee, who was charged with a second count of harassment last Monday stemming from the same arrest, told this newspaper that he’d love to tell his side of the story but he has been instructed against it.
Senators owner Eugene Melnyk called in celebrity lawyer Paul Cambria to defend his executive.
Lee has pleaded not guilty and has no criminal record.
Cambria sees Melnyk as a surgically loyal man and told this newspaper that in this case he has every reason to remain loyal to Lee.
Cambria knows loyalty well from his days as a lawyer who has defended everyone from NHL star Patrick Kane to shock rocker Marilyn Manson to Hustler publisher Larry Flynt.
In an interview last month, Cambria heaped praise on Melnyk: “It was a pleasure to talk to (Melnyk). He was solid, professional and determined. He is loyal to his people and he has good reason to be loyal in this situation and with Randy.”
The harassment charges, both violations in New York, have not been proven in court.
It should be noted that the only reason Lee spent a night in jail awaiting his June 1 court appearance is because he is a Canadian citizen, according to the district attorney’s office.
Lee — at home in Ottawa awaiting trial — has been released on his own recognizance on the promise that he shows up for all of his court appearances in Buffalo.
The district attorney is not asking for jail time (maximum of 15 days), but is seeking a fine (maximum of $250).
District attorney John Flynn told reporters in June that he “will get (the young man) justice” and that Lee will have to answer for his “uncool behaviour.” The district attorney said a night in jail was a “wake-up call” for Lee.
Lee is scheduled to be back in court later this month.
Out of professional courtesy (their offices are across the street from one another), Desmond has notified the Sens’ lawyer in Buffalo about their retainer, anchored in the hopes of suing Lee and the Sens. (Lee is also the Belleville Senators’ GM.)
Itwasa pleasure to talk to (Melnyk). … He is loyal to his people and he has good reason to be loyal in this situation and with Randy.